Yeomans Work

Chuck Grassley

Reports of President Trump’s phone call to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley to concur in the wonders of ethanol (please!) raised anew the principle question about Trump’s namesake son, Donald Jr.; is he playing with a full deck?

Trump Jr. has agreed to a closed-door interview with Judiciary Committee staffers and any senators who wish to attend. This is, in the technical jargon of the law, a really dumb idea. The Committee wants to ask Trump about the June 2016 meeting that he orchestrated with an assortment of Russians, Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner. Trump Jr. has already lied in public about the meeting, demonstrating a disconcerting level of cluelessness about his situation. In the interview, he will either tell more lies, withdraw his consent to cooperate, assert his Fifth Amendment privilege to remain silent, or inculpate himself in a conspiracy to invite Russian interference in the 2016 election. Which of these does he think helps his chances of staying out of jail? Or, is he willing to let it all hang out because of confidence that Dad will pardon him in the end? Read more

Chairman Charles Grassley recently announced that he would invite Donald Trump, Jr. and Paul Manafort to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. As the evidence of collusion by the Trump campaign with Russia to swing the 2016 election mounts at a dizzying pace, the public appetite for testimony from the players has grown ravenous. That appetite was further whetted when Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had told the Committee he would not object to testimony by Trump, Jr. and Manafort. But eager viewers should not start popping corn and settling into their easy chairs just yet. Despite considerable posturing by members of congress and potential witnesses, the summer and fall seasons are unlikely to feature high-profile public testimony by the likes of Trump, Jr. or Manafort, unless they appear for the limited purpose of announcing that they decline to answer questions.

Simultaneous Congressional and criminal investigations require sensitive coordination, a process sometimes labeled “deconfliction.” Both Congressional and criminal investigators play important roles in our constitutional system and must, at times, proceed simultaneously. Criminal investigators are assigned the task of holding government officials accountable when they cross the line into criminal conduct. Their work demands meticulous step-by-step construction of a case, which can be undermined by having another investigatory body conducting overlapping interviews of witnesses or collection of evidence. Confidentiality, whether through the secret process of a grand jury or routine communications in following leads, can be essential to success. Read more